Stepping back in time....

It has been an interesting few days, I have been helping to show Jade's family around a little of Northern Ireland as well as Dublin. I am going to blog more on the cultural experiences I have had the pleasure of encountering...and the glorious food.

Yesterday, we planned a more relaxed day with some local sightseeing in Belfast. Visit to Harland and Wolfe, some photos of Samson and Goliath (the big yellow cranes), drop by Belfast Castle before heading to the Shankill and Falls. We also visited the Clonard Monastery, The RVH and also Broadway Towers. Just a few bits and pieces to help put this place into context for Jade's family.

A short time after out visit to the Shankill Road, two masked and armed men approached another man and shot him dead in the middle of a group of shoppers on the busy Shankill Road. We must have missed this shooting by minutes. Bobby Moffett, was shot in the face a short time before 13:00 BST.

Whilst we are rightly proud of the progress which has been made in Northern Ireland, we must not become complacent. It is my understanding that the UVF, who Mr Moffett has been linked to, have already declared that all their weapons were put beyond use. So where did this gun come from?

It is a tragedy on a day when I was proudly displaying parts of our past, the future was also being tainted by merciless gunmen. Disgusting really.